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The final results for the 2016 World Golf Championships (WGC)-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas area in. Jason Day won the event 5 & 4 in the finals match over runner-up Louis Oosthuizen; it’s Day’s ninth PGA Tour title, second WGC-Match Play win and second consecutive Tour win. With his win this week, Day moves back to #1 in the OWGR. Below are the results for the quarterfinals through to the finals:
Finals 5 & 4:
(1) Jason Day
(2) Louis Oosthuizen
Third Place 3 & 2:
(3) Rafa Cabrera Bello
(4) Rory McIlroy
Semifinals:
Jason Day (WIN) – Rory McIlroy | 1 UP
Louis Oosthuizen (WIN) – Rafa Cabrera Bello | 4 & 3
Quarterfinals:
Rory McIlroy (WIN) – Chris Kirk (T5) | 4 & 3
Jason Day (WIN) – Brooks Koepka (T5) | 3 & 2
Rafa Cabrera Bello (WIN) – Ryan Moore (T5) | 2 & 1
Louis Oosthuizen (WIN) – Dustin Johnson (T5) | 2 & 1
Here are my thoughts and a few statistics on the champion and some notable golfers that made the semifinals:
Winner: Jason Day – This is Day’s second WGC-Match Play win (his first was at the Accenture Match Play in 2014), 9th PGA Tour win and second consecutive Tour win since last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. This week’s win is also his sixth in his last 13 Tour starts — unbelievable and very Tiger-esque. Previous finishes at the WGC-Match Play event for Day include a T52 in 2015 (held in May that year), a win in 2014, T3 in 2013, T17 in 2012 and T9 in 2011 — certainly evidence that he tends to play well in this type of format, and that in combination with his current form is a recipe for success. Just how high and far will Day go? How long can he stay in the zone and cement himself as one one the greatest golfers of this generation? How long will it take for him to win another major? It will be interesting to see how things play out.
Today: 5 UP after 14 holes for a 5 & 4 victory. He started the round going 1 DN but quickly turned it around and never gave up his building advantage. Previous results prior to the finals: 1 UP win over McIlroy, 3 & 2 win over Brooks Koepka, 3 & 2 win over Brandt Snedeker.
Louis Oosthuizen – This would have been just Oosthuizen’s second PGA Tour win following the 2010 Open Championship (and hence his first WGC win). His past three finishes on Tour prior to this week, from present to past, were a T7 at the Valspar two weeks ago, a T14 at the WGC-Cadillac and a T44 at the WGC-HSBC Champions last November. That means, of course, that this is his current best finish of the 2016 season. He won an event on the European Tour in February. Previous finishes at the Match Play tournament for Oosthuizen include a T5 in 2015, T5 in 2014, T17 in 2013, T17 in 2012 and T33 in 2011 — a consistent trend of improvement every year that continued this week. It’s difficult to predict what will happen with Oosthuizen — I don’t consider him to be a very consistent player, although he does seem to do fairly well in majors. Whether or not he’ll be able to find any kind of good winning form this season remains a question.
Today: 5 DN after 14 holes for a 5 & 4 loss. He started the round going 1 UP but things quickly turned the wrong way and he was never able to gain any momentum. Previous results prior to the finals: 4 & 3 win over Rafa Cabrera Bello, 2 & 1 win over Dustin Johnson, 4 & 2 win over Jordan Spieth.
